Dipstick... the unfettered feline, leading a charmed life

Over the years, visitors to Stellenbosch Airfield may have noticed a friendly, four-legged resident, sashaying about and performing the duties of being self-imposed welcoming committee to all and sundry.

The aptly-named Dipstick (given his telltale black-tipped tail, and oil splat side spots) has been ambassador-in-chief at the airfield since about 2012... when he dodged the jaws of death at the hands of a merciless person, who dumped him and his siblings in a plastic bag in the river.

Fortunately a cyclist passed nearby, saw the bag and investigated, and saved the lives of the hapless kittens inside – including Dipstick, who was then adopted as the resident cat at the Stellenbosch Airfield.

Tracing his origin story, Bolander went to chat to Geoff Charlesworth, at his lovely little restaurant in Strand last week (called Jeff’s Bistro).

Over a cup of coffee and a delicious piece of home-made milktart, Geoff – who had been the manager of the clubhouse at the Stellenbosch Flying Club at the time Dipstick came on the scene – shared more about this very special feline, who clearly has a full quota of nine lives’ worth of character and charm, not to mention tenacity.

“In 2012, after he’d been chucked away in the river and rescued just in time, he hung out with me at the Clubhouse,” said Geoff.

“I used to play with him with a fishing rod and little grey toy mouse tied to the hook, for fun and games,” he added, as this feisty kitten crept into everyone’s hearts with his antics.

He was fed and nurtured, and any medical needs were met by passing the hat, and there was no shortage of care and concern for his wellbeing, with the captive audience of all concerned.

So, Dipstick probably still has some less famous siblings in the area, but he was the one who ended up with the wind under his wings after his very fortuitous discovery... (strike one or two lives, at least!).

When he got bigger, he used to head cross-country over to Spier, and explored the greater area... and once even contested an eagle for its prey of a Kiewiet, wresting it away from the huge bird – a sign of his intrepid personality, tells Geoff.

“Only once did I see him nervous, and it was when he saw a horse in the distance, as he was crossing a field”, he adds.

John Smith, a local pilot who keeps a vintage aircraft there, told me that he has also seen Dipstick parading around proudly with just a rat’s tail protruding from his mouth, so he clearly earns his keep – moving about all the hangars and clubhouse, reducing any opportunistic rodent populations.

“He eats anything, and if anyone annoys him, he’ll just opt for climbing a tree or the upstairs balustrade at the clubhouse. He’s absolutely fearless when it comes to heights (and indeed most things), says John.

Geoff said that Dipstick would occasionally disappear for days when he was younger... “He’d go walkabout, then just reappear,” he said, no worse for the wear.

He was sterilised as soon as possible, but still had a large territory, and made the most of it.

Proving himself very friendly to all the guests at the airfield, and the pilots and students, he soon cemented his role as greeter and general enhancer of moods.

“I used to sit outside and play with him,” said Geoff, and this was clearly a lovely distraction from the labours of the day, as most cat lovers will concur with.

The previous resident cats, Zero One and One Nine (both named after runways), had died before Dipstick’s arrival, and everyone was determined to make sure that the newcomver didn’t overstep his nine-life quota.

After Geoff left in 2018 to set up Jeff’s at Ridgeway House, Strand, he couldn’t take Dipstick with him, so he moved over to the Training Centre at the Flight School, and set up home there.

Megan Burgess, the Flight School Administrator for the past few years, took Dipstick under her wing, and cares for his needs, big and small, as part of her daily duties.

He has his own chair at the centre, where he is beloved by all who pass through, and he has pride of place in the lecture rooms, the entry office area, and indeed wherever he decides to set up home for the day.

It is clear that cats who grow up in situations of adversity, are often the ones with the greatest longevity, and with commensurately huge personalities (ditto for dogs).

They are masters of adaptability, and their innate charm goes a long way towards securing the hearts and affections of all in their path.

Geoff said he’d visited once to pick up some wine at the Clubhouse, and although Dipstick came over to curl around his legs and say hello, he was otherwise preoccupied with his own schedule for the day.

He recalls how Dipstick brought him “gifts” at least once a week: moles, half-eaten lizards, whatever he had caught for the pot, so to speak.

Dipstick evidently has a cast-iron constitution, given that he unashamedly does the rounds at the tables when guests are eating outside or inside the clubhouse, and “smouses” for a handout, added John.

Coming from such meagre beginnings is probably always at the heart of such behaviour, and now at the ripe old age of 13 (with a bit of guesswork and reverse engineering involved), this sweet lad still has a good lifespan left, one trusts, with which to carry on his sterling work of reducing tension, and providing in-house entertainment... and improving the aesthetics of all the places he chooses to inhabit.

Some of his more dramatic perching points include “roosting” on top of aircraft wings, in the jet intake of the old Vampire next to the Clubhouse, high up in the two-storey hangars, and his favourite spot, a perfectly-positioned climbing tree in front of the training centre.

When I chatted to Megan at the airfield later that morning, she told me that Dipstick’s new look was the result of a medical problem that had manifested with his ears, necessitating their removal when cancer was detected.

So in November 2022 he had his ears amputated, so now he’s even more aerodynamic, and it hasn’t slowed him down at all.

Fortunately he didn’t need any chemo or radiation, and his fan club keep a sharp eye on him, to make sure he doesn’t have any other health challenges that could slip by unnoticed (highly unlikely).

The club covers his food, which includes a sachet of wet food every day with his kibbles, and whatever medical costs may arise.

In the morning, Megan opens the door of the facility, and lets him out from where he has his snug bed, to loud vocalising and purring.

And the one time he was MIA (missing in action), he was later discovered (indignantly) inside a hangar, where he’d been locked up inadvertently after a hunting foray.

There’s no shortage of offers to adopt him, by people who encounter him there and attribute his now fairly motly appearance to a lack of a home (when it is indeed only a reflection of his age and adventurous nature) – but this habitat is one to which he has become so accustomed, that it’s no doubt the best place for him to live out his remaining years.

Once the CCTV cameras picked up an altercation between Dipstick and a hapless dog who wandered into his territory, and it was sent packing in no uncertain terms, to the great amusement of all who viewed the footage.

He’s also brought Megan the odd feathered or scaled gift (which she’s relocated back to the wild), showing that he’s no freeloader!

I asked if he minded the very busy days there, like when the recent big air show was held, but I’m informed that he handles crowds with equanimity, and when he chooses to opt out, all he needs to do his climb his tree, and watch the comings and goings from his lofty perch.

After a delightful morning on the trail of this remarkable cat, and meeting all the people who are captivated by his enchanting character, I returned home to my own adopted cats, with the long-acting endorphins a blessing of seeing the kind of human and animal interaction that makes my day.

He is a character of note, like so many in our midst, and it was a good reminder to slow down, observe the little beings sharing our greater habitats, and shining a light on their own, special stories.

● Dipstick’s Instagram page is @dippy_the_earless